Throughout the description, a portable terminal means portable electronic devices including PDAs (Personal Digital assistant), smart phones, handheld personal computers, hand phones, MP3 players and the like. These devices may be equipped with a desired communications module such as CDMA (Code Divisions Multiplexing Access) module, Bluetooth module, IrDA (Infrared Data Association) module, or wired or wireless LAN card. In addition, such portable terminals may be provided with a desired microprocessor having a function of reproducing multi-media data, i.e., a desired computational ability.
Recently, portable terminals have been popularized for listening music, furthermore for watching movies or TVs according to the advent of satellite DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) and ground wave broadcasting.
As such, users are quite often bound to use those portable terminals for a long period of time.
Holding a portable terminal by hand for a long time causes the users to become physically tired.
As another problem, a longer antenna became required for the portable terminals to receive for example the satellite DMB service.
In order to receive the satellite DMB, diversity technique has been proposed, in which multiple antennas are employed, but which results in a bulky and heavier device (e.g., cellular phone).
The above problems in the art will be explained in details.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional portable terminal and an electric charging station.
As shown in FIG. 1, the portable terminal 1 is placed in an electric charging station 10 to charge the terminal.
The bottom face 11 of the charging station 10 is flat so that the charging station can be placed on a floor such as desks and tables. On the top of the charging station 100 is formed a recess 13 where the portable terminal 1 is placed when it is charged.
The recess 13 of the charging station 10 is structured such that the portable terminal 1 rested therein remains inclined at a certain angle. Thus, a user can place the portable terminal on the recess 13 to watch movies or TV being displayed on the display 12 for a long time.
With this electric charging machine, the user can see the display 2 for a long time without excessive bowing of head and thus without excessive fatigue. However, inconveniently the users must carry the electric charging station 10.
In addition, the recess 13 of the charging station 10 has a fixed angular position and shape, so that the user can not arbitrarily adjust the angle of the portable terminal 1 with respect to the floor.
That is, the angle of the display 2 to the floor can not be adjusted according to the individual user's preferences and choices.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, another conventional technique will be explained.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portable terminal, i.e., a cellular phone having a tilting device. As shown in FIG. 2, the tilting device 30 is pivotally installed in a portable terminal 20 at both end faces 22 and 23 thereof.
The front face of the portable terminal 20 is formed with a display 21. The tilting device takes the form of “”, at both ends of which a hinge 31 is pivotally attached to both lateral faces of the portable terminal 20.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the portion III in FIG. 2.
At both lateral sides of the portable terminal 20 is formed a stepped portion 24 for the tilting device 30 not to be protruded. The stepped portion 24 is made up of a step 25 and a flat portion 26.
The above “” shaped tilting device 30 is combined to the flat portion 26 by means of a hinge 31. The hinge 31 pivots about near the step 26 to the extent of 90 degrees.
The “” shaped tilting device 30 pivots near the hinge 31 and then is stopped by the step 25. At this state, the tilting device 30 contacts the floor and the bottom of the portable terminal 20 contacts the floor, such that the portable terminal is supported on the floor while forming a certain angle with the floor.
When the tilting device 30 is not being used, it can rest on the flat portion 26 of the stepped portion 24 to provide a convenient portability. With this technique, however, the tilting device supports the portable terminal 30 with a fixed inclination, i.e., 90-degree all the time.